Moustafa Bayoumi‘s first book, How Does It Feel to Be A Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America (Penguin Press 2008), became an instant classic: a primer to help understand life after September 11th. The book offered an intimate portrait of Arab youth in Brooklyn, who experienced Islamophobic racism and looking for how to name it. In 2010, Moustafa found himself the target of xenophobia when Brooklyn College assigned it to all incoming freshmen and the right-wing media went on the attack. As The New Yorker wrote, “It all fits perfectly with the growing sentiment that Muslims—led by President Obama, of course—are working to destroy America…. It’s a shame that Moustafa Bayoumi’s book, a thoughtful and highly regarded portrait of the group living with this growing antagonism, has to be at the heart of it.”

Join us as we celebrate the launch of Bayoumi’s newest book, This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror (NYU Press 2015). The essay collection chronicles the dangers and absurdities that face many targets of Arabs and Muslims today. The dangers: Bayoumi discusses the sweeps immediately after 9/11 that led to the deportation and incarceration of thousands of Arabs and Muslims, as well as the NYPD’s Muslim surveillance unit, which operated with cooperation from the CIA. The absurdities: in the last few years, Bayoumi has played an extra in Sex and the City 2, he’s appeared as a terrorist suspect in a detective novel, and been asked by a U.S. citizenship officer to drop his middle name of Mohamed. As Vijay Prashad writes: “Moustafa Bayoumi’s calm and precise voice takes you into the world of governmental paranoia and its social costs. What does it mean to be an American Muslim today? Read him. Beautiful writing for an ugly world.” Moderated by Zohra Saed, co-editor of One Stories, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature.

***VIRTUAL EVENT: This event will be livestreamed on the Asian American Writers’ Facebook page.*** Join us on THURSDAY June 18, 2020 at 7pm for a Book launch & PRIDE Celebration of Kay Ulanday Barrett's second book, More Than Organs published by Sibling Rivalry Press. What better way to usher Kay's...

***VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: This workshop will take place on Zoom.*** Thursday, July 2nd, 2020 11 AM - 1:30 PM EDT (2.5 hours) TUITION: Sliding Scale $50-$75 How do we create work that is deeply personal but is intended to be political? Join us for a unique virtual poetry intensive with powerhouse,...

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